Tuesday, September 17, 2013

I have too much stuff -- at least, I do in my opinion. Dotti Laseur told me my house is boring because I don't have enough art. But she didn't see it when I had pictures from the floor to the ceiling on every wall in the house. Then I met Kurt Specht and saw his beautiful home in Dallas that looked like nobody lived there because it was so clean and uncluttered, and I fell in love with "less is more".

I have figured out that everything that we decide we need to "own" comes with some kind of responsibility -- even knick knacks. First I have to find a suitable place to put them where they are safe from free flying parrots, dogs and little kids. Figurines and pictures and knickknacks have to be dusted. I hate to dust, so I put them all away, or moved them to my bedroom, where the floor to ceiling continues.

Cars have an immense responsibility attached to them in the form of insurance and maintenance, Having many vehicles was one of Ronnie's dreams, not mine. Having four extras to license, maintain and insure was more financial responsibility than I wanted to deal with so I sold the van with the power lift and the little Chevy. I gave Ronnie's white Chevy truck to his brother, John and sold the 37 Ford to his brother, Bruce. Now I just have the Kia and space in the garage to put her if I need to.

Owning a home carries it's own set of responsibilities, including keeping the yard tidy so the neighbors don't ask you why you haven't already moved into an apartment.

A year or so after Ronnie passed on, I started clearing out some of his stuff -- stuff that I had no use for, stuff that I can't even identify. Eventually I began seeing some clear spaces where I put my own stuff that I don't need either. What is it about stuff that we keep it even though we don't use it regularly? Some of it, I don't use at all.

Andy Pruett put in some new shelves in the garage and those shelves sucked up stuff so fast it made my head spin and now they are full and there is still stuff everywhere, old dishes, old cooking utensils, old tools and car parts and lawn care items, cans of carburetor cleaner and old car wax. When I go out there to do some more clearing out, I just feel overwhelmed by it all and usually just turn around and come back inside.

Which brings me to one of the solutions to finding new stuff that I think I need, but have no place to put and I certainly don't need any new responsibilities. My iPhone camera!

I have discovered that I can take a picture of things and enjoy showing the picture as much as the thing itself. This picture is an example of that.

8 x 10 Loving Touch, Artist unknown to me

This pencil drawing was entered in the Mystery Art Festival last year at the Kemp Center for the Arts. By the time I got there, the bidding on it was already up to $95. The bidding was done in increments of $5 and when a picture reached $100, it went to live auction, starting at $100. From there the sky could have been the limit.

Even though with every fiber of my being, I wanted to hang this picture in my bedroom where I could see it as soon as I open my eyes, I also knew that I did not need to spend that much money on a piece of art, so I took a picture of it.

I learned how to "take a screen shot from a selection" and in utilizing that function on my Mac, I was able to eliminate the frame. I love this picture! It captures the beauty of the horses in such detail, it almost looks like a photograph. In my opinion, it was the best piece there. Whoever the artist of Loving Touch is, I celebrate your talent. This is nothing short of awesome! And I can look at it any time I want to.

A few weeks ago, my sister, Peggy and I drove to Decatur to meet some friends for lunch. After eating, we went browsing through the antique shops around the square. Peggy nearly had a melt down when she found a toy truck exactly like the one we played with when we were girls. Old toys are worth a pretty penny now and the price tag on the truck was $85.

"Joe will s*** if he figures out I paid $85 for that,"she reminded herself quietly. So she walked away from it. But later we had to pass that store again, so we went back inside to look at the childhood memory one more time. "Take a picture of it," I said, and she did. So did I.

toy farm truck from the late 1940's or early 50's

Now we can both enjoy seeing the truck but neither of us had to spend $85 in order to relive that wonderful time of our lives.

I bought new furniture not long after Ronnie passed on. That big couch we purchased a few years before he got sick seemed to take up the whole living room, so when Deidre moved to Mineral Wells, I sent the big couch with her. This new set, a couch and a love seat, would serve as a good example of something I SHOULD HAVE just taken a picture of. It is not comfortable. It might do for a formal living area where no one is going to sit very long, but when I watch a ball game or a movie, I end up with my back on the seat, my legs stretched out in front of me and my neck bent. It is not comfortable to sleep on either. The arm rests are too hard to be comfortable as a pillow and too high to accommodate a real pillow. Both are too short to stretch out on between the arm rests, so basically the things are useless. They are neat looking though, which is why I bought them. It never occurred to me that they wouldn't be comfortable.

Which brings me to the couch I did take a picture of. This would look so awesome in my living room, but because I already have two couches - the uncomfortable one in the living room and the big one that came home with Deidre from Mineral Wells is out in the shop, I can not buy this. As a defense mechanism, I didn't even sit on this one so I have no idea if it is as comfy as it looks.

scratches from the big couch coming in

Deidre says sell the pretty, uncomfortable ones on craigslist, but selling stuff is always a hassle for me. Getting anything big out of this house is always a problem because of the fence around the sidewalk and the three steps up. Then there is the same problem of getting the new one inside. Every time I buy something big, my front door ends up with a new scratch.

The red couch would go nicely with the Texas Rangers chair and the bright alcohol ink on glass paintings I bought recently from Cindy Kahler Thomas, but I have the picture and the couch is probably gone by now -- and even if it isn't, I'd rather not know because I don't need another couch.
I do not need another couch, red or not, I don't need another couch.

Taking a picture doesn't always satisfy me, though. I took pictures of this silly little boy dog, named Breck Roscoe Gentry, and spent half a day trying to talk myself out of offering him a new forever home, but I failed and now he's here causing all kinds of trouble -- but he still makes me smile. He's long and skinny. He feels like June Bug and he keeps these old girls active.

I've long known that if I walk away from something I think I want, if it is meant to be mine, I'll go back for it. If it was meant to be mine, it will be there when I go back. And it's interesting that I remember the things I went back to get and they were there, but I don't remember the things I missed.

About Me

Besides being a lifelong writer, Paula also has 45 years experience in floral design. She loves flower gardening, animals and nature. She lives with her daughter and grandson, two dogs, a cat, a parrot, and two cockatiels. Outside, she feeds, numerous squirrels, a flock of Birmingham Rollers, one hen and a rooster, and two box turtles.